1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflector formed by a fiber reinforced plastic material (hereinbelow referred to as FRP) and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, it relates to a reflector formed by FRP which reflects light ranging from infrared rays to visible rays.
2. Description of Prior Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively cross-sectional views of conventional reflectors.
In FIG. 1, a reference nurmeral 1 designates a supporting body made of a material such as metal, a numeral 2 designates a support for a reflector which may be formed by the same material as the supporting body, a numeral 3 designates metal substrate for the reflector of a material such as stainless steel and having a concave surface, a numeral 4 designates a plated layer formed on a surface of the metal substrate 3 and a numeral 5 designates a reflecting membrane such as a vapor-deposited membrane such as aluminum formed on the outer surface of the plated layer 4.
In FIG. 2, a reference numeral 3' designates glass substrate having a small linear expansion coefficient such as Pyrex (Trademark registered by CORNING GLASS WORKS).
In the conventional reflectors having the above-mentioned construction, light in the range from infrared rays to visible rays is reflected by the reflecting membrane 5 which is formed by vapor-deposition on the front surface of the plated layer 4 of the accurately shaped and finely finished reflector.
The conventional reflectors were heavy and difficult in transportation, installation, removal for repairing and so on. Further, it was necessary to increase rigidity by using a strong material such as metal for the supporting body 1 and the support for the reflector 2. This resulted in increase in weight of the supporting body as well as the reflector.
When the reflector is formed by using metal substrate which is normally poor in heat radiation characteristic and has a large linear expansion coefficient, deformation of the reflector takes place due to an increased temperature during a long time operation for reflecting visible rays. This inevitably requires heat control for the reflector.